Residents of around 840 Orbit Housing Association homes in the Bristol area have this week successfully transferred to Sovereign Housing Association. The move is part of Orbit’s focus on customer service and a recognition that, in the south west, it could no longer offer the quality and range of services to the standards it wished for its customers.

Sovereign was selected by Orbit’s Board and residents over 13 other housing associations after an in-depth bidding process. This included drop-in events in Portishead, Bristol, Bath and Trowbridge where residents and staff had a chance to meet and quiz the shortlisted associations before voting for their preferred new landlord.

The proposed transfer was then approved by Orbit’s Management Board and has been welcomed by both organisations.

Orbit’s Chief Executive, Paul Tennant, explained: “We feel confident that Sovereign will provide an excellent service to meet not only our own aspirations for our residents, but also the wishes and expectations of residents themselves. As a key development partner in the south west, Sovereign is also building new homes in the region and this will open up further opportunities for our residents – either to transfer to different accommodation to suit the changing needs of their households, or to step on to the home ownership ladder.”

Paul Crawford , Sovereign’s Managing Director, said: “We are delighted to welcome Orbit’s residents and staff into Sovereign Housing Association. From our Bristol office we already deliver services to residents of just under 1,000 rented and shared ownership homes - and we are building about 150 homes in the region each year. By virtually doubling the number of homes we have in the region, this transfer gives us a real opportunity to bring greater economies in how we deliver services to both sets of residents. This is particularly true of repairs and maintenance work since we now have our own Bristol-based maintenance team.”

Since the arrangement was agreed in February, Sovereign and Orbit staff have been busy working together on the change. After holding a conference for residents on 1 March, they have been finalising the complex legal requirements; arranging new rent payments; and making sure that everything was set up for Sovereign to provide a full support and repairs service from day one.

As well as the 800 homes, eight Orbit staff have transferred to Sovereign and will initially continue to manage their existing patches, giving excellent continuity for residents.

This week Sovereign has also written to all the transferring residents with a welcome pack which includes a guide to services and how they can get involved. A special phone line has also been set up (0845 872 4696) to deal with any initial enquiries the new residents may have.

Published 2 April 2008
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